About Pencil Code

Pencil Code is a collaborative programming site for drawing art, playing music, and creating games. It is also a place to experiment with mathematical functions, geometry, graphing, webpages, simulations, and algorithms. Programs are open for all to see and copy.

Watch a video overview or watch a video tutorial.

The main language is Coffeescript. Professional software engineers use Coffeescript to build complex websites, but Coffeescript code can also be very simple.

Pencil Code can also be used to explore and learn Javascript, HTML, and CSS: when you are ready, just find the "gear" button to adjust languages.

Programs preload the pencilcode library to use turtle graphics functions. Pencil Code is all open source. Hang out on the Pencil Code discussion forum or check out the quick reference or the online guide to find out more. There is also an illustrated Pencil Code book with more than 100 small projects.

Anybody can save programs and web pages, but read the Terms of Service and the Privacy Policy first. Two rules:

Be Nice. Do not mess up other peoples' work. Do not post content that detracts from education on the site. This a learning space that is not locked down (for example, passwords are optional). So feel free to explore, create, and link, but also please be considerate.

Be Careful. Do not depend on Pencil Code to keep your data safe. Data posted here is public, and data is not secured from loss. Do not post private or personally identifiable information. Passwords on Pencil Code do not prevent malicious interference.

The Pencil Code Foundation is devoted to advancing computer science education by making programming as simple and as universal as using a pencil. Contribute to the development of Pencil Code at dev.pencilcode.net or github.  — info@pencilcode.net.